Dark Sector - PS3 - Preview 2

Pre-E3 2007 Preview

Developed by Digital Extremes, Dark Sector is one
title that has been turning heads since it was announced a while back. The
game’s nice looking aesthetic has only been trumped in discussion by the mystery
surrounding its development. The title has previously been very much under
wraps, undergoing delays and slowly creeping out in terms of new info.

However, at a recent press event held by
D3Publisher (the publishing house behind the game), not only was the game on
display, but a playable build also was available to get our hands on and take the
game out for a test drive. While the aiming controls weren’t quite as intuitive
as one would hope and the AI wasn’t where it should be, Dark Sector showed a lot
of promise, featuring some really cool elements, and might just be one you’ll
want to check out in early 2008.

The details on the game are still quite scarce, but
from what we were told at a recent D3Publisher press event, Dark Sector follows
the story of Hayden Tenno, a Jack Bauer-type from a CIA-like agency sent to
Lazria to assassinate a rogue agent. However, once there, Hayden gets infected
with Lazrian biological weaponry that causes metal to cover his skin (kind of
like Dr. Doom in the Fantastic Four movies), granting him with unique abilities.

Gameplaywise, the game feels and controls a lot
like Resident Evil 4. The third person camera is from an over-the-shoulder
perspective, with aiming done very similarly to RE4. You have access to several
different weapons, like shotguns, pistols and SMGs. However, the most
interesting weapon of the bunch is your glaive. The glaive is a boomerang blade
that you can chuck at enemies and literally slice them up to bits, cutting
torsos in half, knocking off legs and arms, and other quite gory things.

You can also use your glaive when solving certain
puzzles. For example, there might be some black, adhesive goo blocking your way
that also happens to be flammable. You can then throw your glaive into a fire,
and throw your fiery blade into the gooey stuff and burn it away. The game will
be about 80 percent action and 20 puzzle elements.

The graphics also look pretty nice. The camera
does the same kind of “battlefield bounce” that you find in Gears of War, adding
to the realism. The character models look very good as do the detailed
environments.

Dark Sector is turning out to be a great looking
and thrilling action game, and one that could surprise a lot of people when it’s
released early next year.